Women should have a right to choose, especially when their own lives are on the line. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has put thousands of women’s lives at risk of dying or other harm. That’s why I will vote to codify Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.

Like many Hoosiers families during tough economic times, the federal government needs to operate within its means and reduce federal spending to combat inflation. While inflation is a global issue, cutting federal spending is critical to offsetting inflationary pressures in the U.S, especially when there’s excessive printing of money by the federal reserve. \n

One out of every five dollars in our economy is tied to the $4 trillion American health care industry. We’ve made tremendous progress in recent years in covering more American with health insurance, though we’ve got more work to do, especially on the rising costs of health care. We need to get soaring costs under control for Hoosier families, and in the U.S. Senate, I’ll work to do just that. It is not right that in the greatest country in the world one unexpected trip to the emergency room, or medical diagnosis can leave a family financially devastated for the rest of their lives.

Politicians like to talk a lot about veterans, but action to reform veterans’ services in this country has been embarrassingly slow. As a Navy veteran who spent six years in service, including the Persian Gulf War, I can tell you first hand we’ve got a lot of work to do to ensure our veterans get the care and services they deserve. We need to work to reduce homelessness among veterans, provide better health care and connect veterans to job and educational opportunities. We also should provide better services at the VA, and that bad employees at the VA who mistreat veterans are held accountable.

As mayor, I worked to increase the number of small businesses in Hammond while reducing burdens that hamper growth. We worked to create opportunities for entrepreneurs to thrive and create jobs. In the US Senate, I’ll work to ensure that small businesses and the creative economy have the tools they need to succeed. This includes access to capital and eliminating regulations that impede growth and prosperity.

Nothing is more important for Indiana’s economic future than ensuring the next generation of our workforce gets the best quality education possible. We must do more to support public education, including parents, teachers, and students. That starts by keeping schools open and giving parents and local school boards the power, not Washington. But that doesn’t absolve Congress from the duty of providing funding, innovation, and standards to ensure our kids are ready to compete in the global economy of the 21st Century.

Throughout the past 18 years as Hammond's mayor, I have visited countless classrooms to talk with students during my regularly scheduled Lunch & Learn events. I've also made sure our youth have great facilities like the new Sportsplex, ice rink, and park improvements for baseball, football, and soccer, all so our children have safe and fun places to enjoy and compete.

We need to protect the rights of every American to vote and in the U.S. Senate I will support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and strengthen parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This legislation would restore the requirement that certain states pre-clear certain changes to their voting laws with the federal government to prevent partisan power-grabs and the denial of American citizens right to vote.

I strongly favor campaign finance and election reform to, in part, undue the great damage that the U.S. Supreme Court did when it overturned the McCain-Feingold law in the Citizens United decision.

In the 21st Century, there’s no reason we don’t have cleaner air and water, and more clean energy jobs here in the Midwest. I’ll make protecting our air and water a priority, as well as focusing on ensuring Indiana is set for the clean energy manufacturing jobs in that rapidly growing sector of America’s economy.

Our work in the coming years to find solutions to the climate crisis is also an opportunity for our workforce and economy, and a chance for our citizens to lead safer and healthier lives.

Rural Indiana is a special place to all Hoosier families and we need to protect and preserve our small towns and rural farmlands. There are over 55,500 farms in Indiana, with nearly 15 million acres of farmland. In the U.S. Senate, I’ll work hard to support our farm economy with a farm bill that strengthens the safety net for farmers and invests in conservation programs. I believe farm communities need a strong and fair safety net to protect against market failure and the ever-increasing extremes in our weather patterns. We need a strong crop insurance program and we need to continue to fully fund the permanent disaster program for livestock producers. In the U.S. Senate, I’ll work to open up markets for Indiana producers, exporting our agriculture products.

Dude, its 2022! Across America, millions of Americans use marijuana to help in the treatment of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, seizures, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer. That’s why 37 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories have legalized it for medical use, including three states that border Indiana (Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois). Furthermore, it’s become very clear that we are on the way to full legalization in most of the country, with 13 states already making marijuana a legal substance and others having decriminalized it. It’s time the federal government recognize that marijuana should be legal and as a U.S. Senator, I will fight to ensure it.